Bette Davis Eyes
by SlytherinTech
Summary: His eyes are what haunted me at night. I would lie awake in bed with the thought of them stuck in my mind. What I saw was all too familiar. Far too honest for my liking. They were a reflection of what I saw in my own eyes in the mirror. They are the only eyes that bring me pain as well as comfort.
1. Summary

His eyes are what haunted me at night. I would lie awake in bed with the thought of them stuck in my mind. What I saw was all too familiar. Far too honest for my liking. They were a reflection of what I saw in my own eyes in the mirror. They are the only eyes that bring me pain as well as comfort. A comfort of knowing that although I continuously feel alone, the reality is that I'm not.


	2. Chapter 1

Everything follows the books right up to the day after the final battle. I own none of the actual characters or universe just my own ideas for this storyline.

* * *

The morning after the final battle was a hard one to swallow for Hermione. They had lost so many. There was no way to comprehend that kind of loss among those they loved. She couldn't bare to share what she had learned of during the battle with anyone.

"Take them." Severus Snape spoke to us. I pulled out a vile to hand to Harry to take Snape's memories. Before we left he motioned to me to come closer. He whispered in my ear what I never wanted to know.

"They are gone Miss. Granger, your parents. He found them, I'm sorry." Those were the last words he spoke. Luckily, Harry was too preoccupied putting the stopper on the vile to hear what he had said. Once the life left his eyes, we ran.

She was laying in bed in the Gryffindor tower. Those that stayed after the battle were housed in available rooms throughout the castle. She was staring at the top of her old four poster bed when she decided that she would weep for them on her own rather than burden anyone else with the news. It was too soon. She wasn't ready to share it with anyone yet.

Professor McGonagall told them all that they would provide breakfast once everyone had all woken. They were welcome to stay and help repair the school if they wanted to afterwards or take their leave. Hermione had decided to stay, regardless of if her friends are or not. She felt she need the distraction. Hoping it will help numb the pain.

She rolled her tired body to her side to get out of the bed. Throwing her legs over the side of the bed to touch her feet against the cold hard floor. She pulled her body to the bathroom to get ready for the day in the hopes that she would be able to get through it easily.

She made her way to what was left of the Great Hall. It wasn't too damaged when compared to the rest of the castle. She felt as though she was simply moving through the motions. She sat down, put some food on her plate and ate. No taste hit her tongue, no heat from the pancakes. No sweetness from the syrup. She felt no enjoyment.

She looked across the room, only to have her eyes land on another set. She was mesmerized. She had seen the same set of eyes for the last seven year. Yet she had never felt the way she did then. At that moment she felt a connection she couldn't explain. A connection that she wouldn't understand until they spoke on a dark, foggy night soon to come.

She was brought out of the distraction when Harry sat in front of her and murmured good morning. She brought her line of sight to her old friend. He looked battered, just as she felt. His normally vibrant green eyes were currently dull. She gave him a soft smile before returning to her food. She glanced back over to the eyes that had previously captured her attention when she felt a set of lips touch her cheek. She turned her attention to the owner of said lips to find Ron sitting down beside her. She didn't know how to deal with how guilty she felt about everything that happened with Ron. She caved in to her emotions last night and went to him for comfort. She was simply happy that she hadn't given in and had sex with him, it didn't keep her from feeling awful about everything. She knew how he felt and she had felt the same way about him at one point, but she was nowhere in a place to start something. She gave him a weak smile before once again going back to her meal. She had a strange yearning to look up again in search of they eyes that had caught her attention. She hadn't paid much attention to whose they were, she just knew she needed to look into them again. When she looked back up in search of the owner of the eyes she saw that they were gone.


	3. Chapter 2

Please review. :)

* * *

After breakfast Hermione went out to bid farewell to her friends. The Weasleys had all decided to go back home to morne Fred. Harry and Ron had both decided to go with them. She was secretly happy that she wouldn't have to keep up pretences around them since they would be gone. Ron was extremely disappointed when she told him that she wouldn't be going with them.

"Hermione, are you sure that you don't want to come with us? I really want you to be with us. With me." He looked at her with hope in her eyes. She felt terrible looking into them.

"I'm sorry Ron, but I'm sure. I want to be a part of fixing up the school. A way to heal for me really." She wouldn't tell him that it was to get away from everyone, or that it was to avoid what she had to deal with. He grabbed hold of her hands before going in for a kiss. She turned her head slightly so it wouldn't be obvious that she didn't want to kiss him back, causing him to kiss her cheek.

"I'll owl you. I promise." He squeezed her hand once more before letting go and heading to the apparition point with the rest of his family. She waved goodbye to them one last time before they apparated away.

She turned back on her heel to head back up to the castle. She saw Professor McGonagall in the distance and headed in her direction.

"Ms. Granger are you sure that you would like to stay here rather than go back with them?" Hermione smiled slightly before responding.

"I'm sure professor. It's what I need. I don't think that going back with them would actually be helpful for me. At least not right now."McGonagall looked down at the young woman sadly. She knew that something was off. Although she knew that Hermione would have come back to help with the castle, it wasn't normal for her to go at anything without the boys by her side. She would have figured she would have gone with them to take time to heal.

"Well then why don't you follow me. If you are sure that you would like to get started helping us we have an area that was greatly damaged. We are going to put as many people on it as we can with the few that are staying." Hermione followed her professor up to the front of the castle. She saw where she was being led to, there was a gaping hole on the side of the castle nearest to the Black Lake. There were only a handful of people that were already working on the damaged area.

"Not many people decided to stay, most decided to go home. Just do what you can do to help and thank you for staying." McGonagall then left Hermione on her own among those that were working. Hermione looked around her to see who had decided to stay. She was given a sense of calm with the fact that there weren't many people she knew. The only ones that she recognized were Luna Lovegood who was currently levitating some bricks back up into the hole; Neville Longbottom who was working on the destroyed ground around the base of the castle; and Draco Malfoy who was fixing one of the large stained glass windows.

She looked at the damage and decided to help Luna with the bricks, that was the part that not only needed the most work but, it was also relatively mindless. She began to levitate the bricks silently. Time passed slowly, but it passed without her having to talk to anyone about anything.

Soon lunchtime came around and they all headed inside to eat. Seeing as there weren't many people there was only one table dressed with food for lunch making it so that they all had to eat together. The only people that were talking at the entire table were Neville and Luna. They were satisfied with simple nods and murmurs from those around them, until they asked her a question that is.

"So Hermione what caused you to decide to stay here?" Neville looked at her expectantly waiting for her answer. She didn't know how to respond. She looked at Neville for a moment before finally beginning to speak.

"I just felt like helping out. There's a lot to be done right?" She felt silly saying this and was sure that he would be able to see through her, but he didn't say anything. He just nodded in agreement and went on with his conversation with they continued to talk Hermione began to feel a presence. As though someone was watching her closely. She turned to her right to where the feeling was coming from and stopped in her tracks. The eyes she had been mesmerized by that morning were right there looking back at her. She continued to look back until, their eye contact was broken by the owner of the eyes turning away from her. That was when she realized who it was that kept keeping her attention with a simple look. It was Draco Malfoy. There was something about the look in his eyes that was different from anything that he had ever seen within them before. She finished eating her food, while he wallowed in his own thoughts.

 _Does she know? Should I tell her? How do I tell her something like that? How do I tell her how it happened or that I didn't even try to help them? How can I tell her that? How do I tell her it's my fault?_


	4. Chapter 3

Please review :)

* * *

After lunch had ended everyone went back to working on the same large hole, everyone but Hermione that is. Hermione had decided she wanted to roam the halls, she wanted to see what all had been destroyed and fix some of the small things that could be done quickly. Although tackling the largest item on their list was important she didn't feel like anything was getting done. She didn't have any sense of accomplishment, and that was a feeling she desperately needed right about now.

She wandered up to the third floor walking through the hall that once housed Fluffy the obscenely large three-headed dog. She remembered Hagrid offhandedly telling them once that they had moved him to a more natural area to live in. It was still dark and dreary like she remembered it being in her first continued down the hall fixing a few things here and there. She reached an alcove that overlooked the Black Lake. She took a moment to look out at the body of water. She watched the water as it glistened from the sun above. She didn't realize that she was crying until she felt a tear fall from her face and land on her hand. Once realization hit her, the tears began to flow more freely until it became hard to breath. She then leaned against the nearest wall and sunk down to the ground letting herself be overcome by her tears and pain.

Down on the ground unbeknownst to her someone had caught sight of her in the alcove looking across the grounds. From where Draco Malfoy stood he had a clear view of the young woman that had been brought to tears in her solitude. He considered going up to try to console her, but decided otherwise. He would let her take time to herself before seeking her out to divulge what all he knew. He knew that he would have to sooner or later, but he also know that now wasn't the time. He looked back to the stained glass that he was currently fixing before turning to Longbottom.

"Longbottom, Granger looks like she needs someone. She looks like she's on the third floor. Closest alcove to the lake." He spoke with no emotion, trying to keep anyone from knowing what he was truly thinking. He watch as Neville Longbottom left his post to head up to the castle in search of his friend. Draco went back to his glass making sure that all the lines of the design lined up just right. Doing his best to mask what had happened to the fixture.

Neville found Hermione on the ground with her knees pulled to her chest, her body heaving through her sobs. His heart ached for her. He knew that she had lost a great deal of people in the war, some of which were the same as he. Although the difference was she was much closer to all of them than he was. He walked to her slowly before sinking down beside her and putting an arm around her shoulders, pulling her to his side.

Hermione stiffened for a moment, as a smell overtook her senses. She knew the sent; it was familiar, not as familiar as Harry or Ron but familiar nevertheless. She took in the sent of lavender, basil and soil. She knew this man. This was her kind friend Neville Longbottom. She relaxed into his body before letting her tears overcome her once more. She needed the comfort he was offering. She soaked up as much of it as he was willing to give in that moment.

She opened her eyes to find herself in the Gryffindor common room. She was lying on the couch in front of the fire. She didn't know when she had fallen asleep or how long she had been out for. She sat up only to find that she had a splitting headache. She placed her hand on her forehead whispering for the pain to subside. Once she realized that it was there to stay she got up and looked at the clock in the corner of the room. It was nearly dinnertime. She had been out for hours.

Well I'm a great help…

She made her way down to the Great Hall in hopes that there was food out. She was lucky that she hadn't lost her appetite like many do in the light of death. She had been walking for a while looking at the ground. She didn't realize that she had been wandering around; she must have taken a wrong turn at some point. She finally looked up to see that she was nearing the dungeons of the castle. A somber look fell across her face in the darkness.

"Why so blue my child?" a voice near her left had spoken. She looked around to find that there was no one there. This caused her a great discomfort seeing as a war had just taken place. She let her wand slide down her sleeve to her hand quickly.

"There is another with such a blue look." She heard the voice again and once more looked in the direction it came from. She found a portrait of a middle-aged woman looking down at her from the wall on her left. She was quite lovely looking. She had kind velvet blue eyes, hair that wafted down her shoulders, and a motherly smile that couldn't be mistaken for anything else.

"I'm sorry?" She was confused, most portraits didn't start speaking unless having been spoken to and she had never seen this one before.

"Oh, my apologies. It's a pleasure to meet you child. My name is Evanora Fawley. I see that something is troubling you. Would you care to talk?" She looked down at Hermione with such a welcoming and kind face. She was a bit taken aback, not sure of how to proceed. In the end her curiosity had gotten the best of her.

"My name is Hermione Granger. May I ask what you meant by there being another?"

"Oh, yes my dear. There is another within the castle that has the same look upon his face as you. You must have suffered a great loss for such a look to grace your face. The same must go for him. It troubles me so that you being so young must suffer so much so soon. It's a true tragedy." Evanora spoke openly with no judgment in her eyes, simply understanding and sympathy for those she spoke of.

"You need someone to speak to child do you not? I can tell you have yet to speak to anyone." She smiled once more.

"How do you know I haven't spoken to anyone yet?" She was once again on her guard; afraid to give out information to someone she didn't know, even if it was just a kind woman in a portrait. Although, she couldn't shake the feeling of wanting to tell this woman everything that had happened. She felt a sense of solidarity with this woman. As though she would understand everything and anything she cared to share with her.

"When I was alive I was considered what they call an empath. I am sensitive to others feelings, to a point that when I was alive I could literally feel what those around me were feeling. It brought a great discomfort to those that weren't open to sharing how they were feeling. Especially those that were extremely private about their lives. I have found that now people aren't as private as they once were during my time. Perhaps life would have been easier for me in this time then my own was."

Hermione thought for a moment before she decided to unload everything on to this woman whom she had never meet. Evanora listened patiently, and wished she could reach out and hold the sobbing girl. Once she had finished her story, Hermione bid her farewell and promised to come back for a visit. She left to go to the kitchens seeing as she had just missed dinner and knew it had just come to an end.

few hours later Evanora made another acquaintance. He had been wandering the halls in the middle of the night quite like Hermione had.

"Why so blue my child?" She spoke softly to the young man before her. He turned in the direction of the voice calling to him.

"There is another with such a blue look." She smiled down at the young man below her. He had the exact same look Hermione had carried with her within his own grey eyes. She knew then they shared a pain, unbeknownst to one another. And so she spoke with him in hopes that he too would give in and unload what he clearly needed to unload to begin moving forward.


End file.
